Ballyfin House in Co Laois, the 1826-built home designed by Richard and William Morrison for Sir Charles Coote - regarded as one of the finest neo-classical properties of its type - is likely to be turned into a hotel by its current owner.
Estate agent Jackson Stops bought the 600-acre Ballyfin Estate for a consortium headed by an American businessman from Chicago, who is known to be a lover of Victorian architecture, and his Irish-born wife. Garden designer Jim Reynolds also has a stake. They are in the process of having it restored by conservation experts Purcell, Miller and Tritton, who are based in London.
The Patrician brothers sold Ballyfin House because they were no longer able to afford its upkeep. They secured an agreement that some school buildings would be left in use until 2008 if a proposed community college isn't built by then.
A planning application has been submitted to Laois County Council for a change of use of Ballyfin to hotel, for interior restoration works and for the demolition of several buildings including the school hall and two barns. A decision is expected on February 27th.
"The timing and opening of the hotel is undecided," says project architect Paul Prentice of Purcell, Miller and Tritton.
"The intention is to bring the interiors back to the way they were in the main house. It involves extensive conservation work in terms of various internal walls, ceiling finishes, plasterwork and joinery."
He believes that a hotel would be a "good fit" for the former country house "where guests and hospitality were once a very important part of its function. It would not involve that much intrusion."
Purcell, Miller and Tritton specialises in the repair and alteration of historic buildings including Fitzwilliam College and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, royal palaces and the London Library.
Ballyfin House was built in Slieve Bloom sandstone. On entering through the Ionic portico and through the formal entrance hall, there is a magnificent suite of rooms. Adjoining the library is a superb conservatory thought to have been built by Richard Turner, who designed the glasshouses in the Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin.
The grounds include a grotto, a serpentine lake, a tower folly and three gate lodges.
Ballyfin House, which has been a college since 1928, was bought by the Patrician Brothers, along with its 600 surrounding acres, for £10,000.
